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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

I've made bagels before, but I like this recipe that I found over at Smitten Kitchen. I've simplified it by not retarding the bagels overnight - but you certainly can - and I find that it works really well like this as well. I also don't bother with different oven temperatures or rotating the sheets, but then again, I have a convection oven with fans, so it bakes pretty evenly.

You can certainly omit the cinnamon and raisin for variety, and top them with whatever you like. I don't like toppings on my bagels, but I do like a bit of flavor in the dough itself. Any ideas for other things than cinnamon? I'm thinking of doing a more bread-y version with caraway seeds.

After baking, I slice all the bagels and freeze them. Every night, I defrost two, and then pop them in the toaster for breakfast for me and Per. Very convenient!

Knead everything but the raisins into a very hard dough. It shouldn't feel sticky. Count on 8-10 minutes in a Kitchen-Aid, or twice the time if you do it by hand. Add the raisins towards the end.

Divide the dough into 15 equally sized pieces (my bagels are usually around 120 g) and shape into round balls. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Shape each ball into a bagel, by poking a hole in the middle with your finger, then gently stretching the hole and twirling it around your fingers. Leave to rest for another 20 minutes. At this point, you can retard the bagels by placing them in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Bring a wide pot of water to boil, and add 1 tbsp baking soda. Boil the bagels for one minute on each side (I can usually fit three at a time), and then place them on a baking sheet. Bake at 225°C for 10 minutes.

I've had terrific luck with spinach and hard cheese in bagels. The key is getting the cooked spinach completely free of liquid, which I do by wringing it out in a kitchen towel. Grate in your favourite hard cheese and they really are superb. Works well with sourdough if you have starter sitting around in the fridge.

Hooray!!!! These turned out great! I used 4 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp honey, and 1 Tbsp malt and about 25% of the flour is "ruchmehl" or Wheat flour. In the land of the "fake bagel" they will be the perfect hostess gift to take to a Swiss National Day party tonight.